Tag
by chaotic-addict
Summary: ShigurexMei runaround. Oneshot, R&R please


A/N: I don't know why, but no one seems to think of these two as a potential couple. So here's a one-shot dedicated to what Crystal, Makie, and I think is a cute Furuba couple: Shigure and Mei!

Disclaimer: All characters are copyright Natsuki Tayaka.

Enjoy!

**_Tag_**

Since day one of her job with him, she knew it was bound to be a disaster.

"Ah! You must be my editor. My name is Sohma Shigure. It's very nice to meet you," said the young man excitedly, holding out his hand. "Your name is Mei, right?"

"Yes," was Mei's response as she took the offered hand and he pumped it up and down excitedly. "So, Sohma-san."

"Please, call me Shigure."

"All right then…Shigure-san, do you have the manuscript?"

"Manuscript?" Shigure looked astounded. "Why, it's a funny story, actually…"

Since day one…

_Why did I ever take this job?_ Mei wondered to herself a year later, sitting at her desk and sifting her hands through her hair.

_Sohma Shigure. Twenty-three years old, fresh out of college and ready to write. Or so I'd thought._

_He's impossible! He's forever forgetting his deadlines, and he makes me nag him and chase him around the place! The last thing I want is to be showing up at his house four years from now, weeping and wailing at every little turn he takes and little trick he plays._

_Yeah, right. I won't let it get** that** far._

"Shi-gu-re!" she was sobbing less than half a year later, "I need that manuscript! NOW!"

"I thought it was due next week," was the innocent reply.

"I said May 18, not May 28!" she nearly screamed, resisting the urge to just wrap her fingers around his throat and shake him back and forth. She knew men were frustrating, but Shigure took it to an entirely different level.

But it didn't stop there.

_Ring, ring, ring._

_Oh, pick up the phone!_ Mei thought in exasperation. She had dropped by Shigure's house to beg the manuscript from him, and found only a scrap sheet of paper on the table.

_Mei,_

_Call this number:_

"What the hell is he trying to pull now…"

"Sohma residence, Sohma Hatori speaking."

"Hello, I'm looking for Shigure?"

"May I ask who's calling?"

"His editor."

"One moment, please."

In the background, Mei heard the man who had picked up—Hatori—calling for Shigure in a stern, get-your-ass-here-now tone of voice. Evidently he was used to Shigure's tricks and teasings.

_How does he do it?_ she wondered. _I'm about to turn myself into the asylum._

"Hel-lo! Sohma Shigure here. What can I do you for?"

"SHIGURE!"

"Ah, Mei, how wonderful to hear your voice again."

"Oh, shut up, you. Where are you?"

"Well…my two friends and I decided we'd like a break, so we're at a reclusive lakehouse in the mountains that the family owns."

"What about the MANUSCRIPT?" Mei almost shrieked, banging the table with a hand. "It's due today! And you know the printing company will drop us if I don't get it in!"

"I can't remember where it was…I think I've misplaced it. I'm sorry, Mei."

"Well try to remember!" was the snapped response. He was obviously screwing with her…again.

"I'll try—oh, no Ayaa don't put that on the stove, you'll—oh dear, Mei, I have to go!"

_Click._

"Bastard," she moaned, glaring at her cell phone before clicking it shut and setting off to search for the ever-elusive manuscript.

In another year, she was reduced to the wailing woman she'd sworn she'd never become. All become of a handsome, mischievous writer.

"Ah, Mei, good to see you—"

"Not today, Shigure. Give me the damn manuscript so I can leave."

"Is something wrong?" he asked. She had no idea why, but she felt inclined to answer his question.

"My father died in an accident."

Wordlessly, Shigure padded into his office, came out, and handed her the envelope. "Here. No teasing today."

Mei burst into tears, falling to her knees and covering her face. Shigure disappeared for awhile, then reappeared with a blanket and a mug of hot tea. He draped the blanket over her, handing her the mug of tea and gently guiding her to his kotatsu, where they sat.

"Here, now, make yourself comfortable."

"I didn't know you could be serious."

"When I wish to be."

"Which isn't that often."

"Well, life's never any fun that way."

So they sat in silence, both sipping their tea, one silently shedding tears, the other one just there.

Then she just began to speak. She talked until she had no idea what she was saying, and everything became blurred together.

Then Mei woke up. "Odd dream," she yawned, sitting up.

Then she realized it wasn't her house.

"Then it wasn't a dream," she said softly.

_More crying. Him gently leading her to the spare bedroom upstairs, saying she could rest there for the night. She slipped on the stairs and fell back into him._

_POOF._

_A dog?_

_Darkness._

"Either I hit my head…" she mused aloud, "or there's something he's not telling me."

And to her surprise, she was more inclined to believe the latter, even though Shigure turning into a dog was the oddest yet somehow non-surprising phenomena she'd ever encountered.

"I'll keep it secret."

So she padded down the stairs, calling out the novelist's name until she found a note tacked to the front door.

_Mei,_

_I've gone to visit the head of the family at Sohma Estate. Don't worry, I already turned the manuscript in for you._

_I'm very sorry about your father._

_Shigure_

"What a moron," she said gently, taking the note down and taking it home with her, where it stayed in a special place: Her nightstand drawer.

And so, the game of eternal tag continued, with her always chasing him around. As the years went on and she grew even more weepy-eyed and gullible, the comfort around him intensified. There were some times when she saw the serious side to him, and she felt as if she were the only person outside the family who saw the most of it.

That's how it always was, and that's how it would always be. He, eternally teasing and giggling, and she, always nagging and pursuing.

A dance of merriment.

A child's game.

Who knew tag could be so fun?


End file.
